


Finding Home

by PeacefulDiscord



Series: It’s Our Pain That Binds Us [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Family Feels, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Healing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28652265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeacefulDiscord/pseuds/PeacefulDiscord
Summary: “Getting better doesn’t mean forgetting, Naruto...”
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: It’s Our Pain That Binds Us [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099763
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	Finding Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LeoOtherLands](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoOtherLands/gifts).



> For @LeoOtherLands Merry Christmas, you lovely bean!

Iruka frowned at his phone, nibbling on his bottom lip. He knew Kakashi wouldn’t answer but he’d hoped--

“Everything alright, sensei?” Bright blue eyes peered up at him. “You’re getting more distracted than me!”

Despite the joke, Iruka couldn’t miss the worry on his student’s face. It wasn’t too hard to smile reassuringly then, feeling the warmth of fondness piercing through the cold ache of stress that had been sitting on his chest all day. “Hm? Oh yes, Naruto, it’s.. You know how Kakashi lost his father and closest friends when he was younger? It makes the holidays a little rough for him so I’m a bit concerned about how he is doing today.” 

“Oh.” Naruto fiddled with his pencil, staring down at the table. His voice trembled slightly and there was shine to his eyes, not unlike how they had looked when they first escaped into the cafe to get away from the biting cold. “So it doesn’t get better then.” 

Iruka cringed. He’d been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t considered how Naruto would have felt, especially since Sasuke had run away, leaving Naruto to the foster care system alone. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know almost exactly how Naruto felt (Iruka still missed his parents and his once best friend, Mizuki, after all) and Iruka really had to resist the urge to hit himself. “Oh, Naruto--”

Two cups were suddenly placed onto the table, whipped cream dusted with peppermint flakes towering over the rims, and Iruka was distantly thankful that he hadn’t taken his laptop out. He looked up into grey eyes. He had thought the man had stayed home. “Kakashi--”

The older man dragged a chair closer, settling between the other two. “Getting better doesn’t mean forgetting, Naruto. The way a cut stops hurting when it has healed but a scar is left behind, that’s the way grief is.”

“...I miss them,” Naruto whispered, a tear slipping down his cheek. He wiped it away roughly before grinning up at Iruka and Kakashi. “But it’s okay, ‘cause we’re gonna see them tomorrow, right?”

The older men nodded, taking care not to mention the way Naruto’s smile was trembling. “First thing in the morning,” Iruka promised.

\------------------------------------------

The next morning, they carried the Christmas cookies they’d made the night before to the cemetery, little plates also in hand. 

It was the same routine, habitual, since the first year they did this. First, they delivered Obito and Rin’s cookies, the orange and purple frosted sweets sitting between the two friends. Iruka and Naruto stepped back to let Kakashi have some privacy to speak to them, going instead, to greet Iruka’s parents with the blue and white snowflake cookies they’d made for them. With practiced movements, he started plucking the dead grass from around the headstones and brushing the dust off of them.

“Hey mom, dad. This is Naruto. He’s the student I told you about. Naruto, these are my parents.”

He was glad when Naruto hesitated for just a moment before beginning to ramble at the graves, telling them how he met Iruka and what he thought of him. It was easy to get lost in the babbling, adding a little here and there as though really in a conversation. Iruka didn’t want to risk hearing what Kakashi had to say. He knew he wasn’t the man’s first love and that was okay. He was Kakashi’s current love and he knew Kakashi deserved this habit, this ritual, needed it to keep holding onto that feeling of closure. Iruka wasn’t about to take that away from him.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Kakashi going to find his own parents, the white and red frosted cookies in hand.

When Kakashi returned, Iruka paused, facing Naruto, and carefully placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, effectively cutting him off. “Are you ready, Naruto?”

The boy hesitated.

“It’ll be okay, Kakashi and I are right here.”

Naruto took a deep breath and nodded firmly. “I’m ready.”

Kushina and Minato’s graves laid beneath the wispy leaves of a large tree in the far corner of the graveyard, the area already cleaned of dead leaves and weeds, the grass well-groomed. Fresh flowers were already there-- the poinsettias and white lilies bouquet wrapped with a trademark yellow and red bow giving away who’d already been there.

Iruka caught Kakashi’s eye and winced. They’d forgotten to let the men know their intention to bring Naruto. They could only hope Naruto wouldn’t feel guilty or angered by it.

“I’ve never visited before,” Naruto admitted, not meeting their eyes. Head bowed, he laid the red and blue iced plated treats in the grass between the headstones. His brows furrowed then, and he pointed at the flowers. “Who left those?”

“Genma and Raidou,” Kakashi hummed as the three of them settled down on the dirt. “Even though your dad was my professor, he’d been their mentor. They worked together while Genma and Raidou were interning at the clinic your parents worked for.” He paused for a long moment, voice trembling a little when he spoke again. “Your mom-- she was like everyone’s big sister. They were...they meant a lot to many people, Naruto.”

Naruto was silent for a long moment. “They do this every year?”

Kakashi hummed again. “They’d been at the hospital when your parents...I don’t think they ever forgave themselves.”

Naruto fell quiet again, twisting his hands into the fabric of his sweatpants. “C-could I meet them? I..they never forgot my parents, not like I did--”

“Naruto--” Iruka protested but Naruto spoke over him.

“And I’d like to hear what they remember.”

Kakashi nodded, wrapping an arm around Naruto’s shoulders. “I think they’d like that.”

The boy smiled, a small pull of lips that were still a little shaky at the edges, but he ran his fingers along his parents’ names. “Mom..Dad..it’s me, Naruto. I’m gonna be a great doctor too, one day, and I’ll save a ton of people. People like you.”

He sniffled hard and Iruka carefully moved closer to hug Naruto as well. 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Naruto continued, curling a little closer to the men beside him, glancing at them before looking back towards the grave. “I’m not alone.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? 
> 
> Hope everyone’s doing well! 😊💕


End file.
